Giant Comps Down as Remodel Effort Begins

Ahold said Friday that comparable-store sales at its Landover, Md.-based Giant Food chain slid 1.6% in the third quarter, which ended Oct. 7, as the chain continues to struggle against new competition.

Oct 29, 2007

AMSTERDAM — Ahold here said Friday that comparable-store sales at its Landover, Md.-based Giant Food chain slid 1.6% in the third quarter, which ended Oct. 7, as the chain continues to struggle against new competition. Early next year the chain will launch what one analyst estimated will be a $300 million effort, called Project Refresh, to refurbish or relocate 100 of its stores. The remodels will seek to replicate many of the features in the chain's prototypes in Millville, Del., and Dunkirk, Md., with expanded perishables and prepared-food offerings. While Giant’s comps sagged in the period — which Patrick Roquas, an analyst at Rabobak, Amsterdam, attributed in part to difficult comparisons with the year-ago results — both Stop & Shop and Giant-Carlisle posted gains in the low single digits. Comps rose 1.7% at Stop & Shop and 3.7% at Giant-Carlisle. Net sales for Giant-Landover and Stop & Shop combined rose 0.3% for the period, to $3.7 billion. Giant-Carlisle’s sales were up 13.1%, to $1 billion, due in part to the acquisition of 13 Clemens Markets in the fourth quarter of last year.